Module Identifier DR22620  
Module Title THEORY AND PRACTICE OF ACTING 2  
Academic Year 2006/2007  
Co-ordinator Mrs Joan G Mills  
Semester Semester 2  
Other staff Mr Richard A D Cheshire, Mrs Joan G Mills  
Course delivery Practical   8 x 3 hour weekly practical class with Joan Mills 1 weekend workshops with Richard Cheshire 5 x 2 hour classes with Stephanie Tillotson  
Assessment
Assessment TypeAssessment Length/DetailsProportion
Semester Exam Duologue  30%
Semester Exam Monologue  30%
Semester Exam Directors' Project  15%
Semester Assessment Classwork  25%
Supplementary Assessment Each supplementary examination and assessment where necessary will need to be arranged and timetabled individually with staff and other students involved.  100%

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
Understand the key principles of a number of acting and rehearsal methodologies, in addition to those applied to psychological realism;

Employ a range of conceptual and rehearsal procedures and modes of exposition appropriate to the presentation of different theatrical styles and genres;

Explore and present a text within the time scale whilst paying attention to body and voice integration;

Demonstrate evidence of vocal capacity and ease which avoids generalisation and emotional overlay;

Demonstrate their ability to work with others, responding to the given circumstances and demands of the text;

Make individual and shared artistic choices and decisions which are appropriate to the chosen text;

Brief description

NB: Students taking this module must normally have attained 55% in the pre-requisite module DR21510 Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Acting 1.

This module develops students' understanding of the use of voice and movement as modes of theatrical exposition. It also develops and extends the concepts of psychological realism experienced by students on DR21510: The Theory and Practice of Acting 1, by assessing a range of alternative acting and rehearsal methodologies. This module requires students to engage with different theatrical modes and apply key principles of practice to classical and contemporary texts.

Content

This module is taught through a series of weekly two- and three-hour workshops during which students will work with a number of practitioners who are experienced in different areas of theatre practice, and will be asked to investigate and experiment in a variety of theatrical styles. Students will work on interpreting texts from Greek, Elizabethan, Jacobean, Restoration, 19th Century English as well as contemporary texts. During the course of these workshops students will also be introduced to more advanced principles of vocal expression and understanding of the workings of the vocal mechanism.   

Sessions with Joan Mills will include the following:
1. The voice: Safety; Understanding the vocal mechanism; pitch, range, timbre, resonance, volume, expression.
2. The body: posture, balance, appropriate tension, release, support.
3. Co-ordination and flexibility.
4. The connection of breath to emotional impulse and language.
5. Presence: physical action; image; being; the sub-text; tempo rhythm.
6. Spontaneity: response, listening, working with others.
7. Analysing the action, thought-to-thought analysis of the text
8. Making the text one's own, avoidance of cliche, avoidance of generalisation, being in the moment.
Sessions with Richard Cheshire will include:
1 and 2.   Performing Shakespeare, understanding the verse, form, structure, the ambic pentameter, monosyllables, feminine endings.
3 and 4.   Marrying the two traditions of Elizabethan and `modern' acting: the work of John Barton, Cicely Berry and Peter Hall; working on Shakespeare's prose
5 and 6.   Working on duologues: unlocking the text, releasing the given circumstances, the actor's future
For part of the assessment, students will work as part of a team interpreting an extract chosen by one of their peers who will act as a director for this piece. The director will be studying DR22910: Principles of Directing Dramatic Texts and will work within the guidance and framework of the assessment piece for this module using these students as actors.

Module Skills

Problem_solving Creative problem solving, outcome recognition, and the identification of the appropriate strategies and procedures and encouraged and assessed throughout the module.  
Research skills A wide range of research skills are necessary e.g. researching writers' background, examining the style and context of the play, comparing rehearsal methodology. Whilst these skills directly inform the work of the students, they are not directly assessed as part of this module.  
Communication The individual student's ability to articulate and communicate their ideas and opinions is developed throughout the module. This area of development is encouraged and assessed within all aspects of the processes and presentations involved.  
Improving own Learning and Performance Self assessment and appraisal are intrinsic to the practical and theoretical study of the craft of study. This module places emphasis on students' progression, development and achievement and students are given continuous feedback during classwork and opportunities to reflect on their progress.  
Team work Group working is addressed and exercised throughout the module. Practical classes demand the application of skills necessary to conduct successful collaborative activity.  
Information Technology Information handling is not formally assessed, but is encouraged through the conduct of research.  
Personal Development and Career planning The module encourages the initial development of skills directly applicable to careers within the theatre/performance industries. A large number of students elect to further their acting training at postgraduate level.  
Subject Specific Skills A theoretical and practical understanding of the craft of acting is at the core of the Department's Drama provision.  

Reading Lists

Books
** Recommended Text
Barba, Eugenio (most up to date) The Paper Canoe Routledge
Barba, Eugenio (1991) The Secret Art of the Performer Routledge
Barton, John Playing Shakespeare methuen
Boal, Augusto (1992) Games for Actors and Non Actors Routledge
Callow, Simon (1991) Acting in Restoration Comedy Applause Thetre Books
De Mallet, Burgess, Thomas and Skillbeck, Nicholas (2000) The Singing and Acting Handbook Routledge
Eddershaw, Margaret (1996) Performing Brecht: 40 Years of British Performances London: Routledge
GELB, MICHAEL . J BODY LEARNING AURUM
Hagen, Uta (1991) A Challenge for the Actor Macmillan
Hall, Peter (2003) Shakespeare's Advice to the Players Oberon
Hodge, Alison (1999) Twentieth Century Actor Training Routledge
Huxley, Michael & Witts, Noel (eds) (1996) The Twentieth Century Performance Reader Routledge
Linklater, Kristin (1992) Freeing Shakespeare's Voice Theatre Communications Group
Linklater, Kristin (2006) Freeing the Natural Voice Nick Hern Books
Merlin, Bella (2007) The Complete Stanislavsky Toolkit Nick Hern Books
Newell (ed) (2003) Shakespeare for One Greenwood Press
Rodenberg, Patsy (1998) The Actor Speaks: The Voice and the Performer Methuen
Spolin, Viola Improvisation for the Theatre
Stafford Clark, Max Letters to George Nick Hern Books
Zarrilli, Phillip (1995) Acting (Re) Considered Routledge
** Supplementary Text
Hampton, Marion/ Acker, Barbara (1997) The Vocal Vision Applause
Park, Glen (2005) The Art of Changing Ashgrove

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 5